Creating an SMS Poll

SMS Polls allow you to collect votes or responses from recipients using text messaging. Participants send a keyword or voting code to a designated short code, and PostUp records the response.

SMS Polls are commonly used for audience engagement, promotions, contests, and surveys.

Creating an SMS Poll

To create an SMS poll:

1. Navigate to the SMS Poll creation screen.

2. Enter a title for the poll in the Title field. This is used internally to identify the poll.

3. Enter the poll question in the Question field. This is the question participants will respond to.

Defining Poll Answers

Each poll requires one or more possible answers.

For each answer you create:

1. Enter a voting code. This is the keyword that participants will text to vote.

2. Enter a friendly title. This is the descriptive label used within the system to identify the answer option.

3. Click Add Another Answer to add additional response options.

Participants will text the voting code to submit their vote.

Assigning the Poll to a Campaign

Use the Campaign dropdown to select the campaign where the poll will be stored. Campaigns help organize SMS activity and reporting.

Subscribing Respondents to a List

You can choose to subscribe voters to a list when they participate in the poll.

1. Use the Subscribe to list dropdown.

2. Select the list where participants should be added.

This allows you to capture and grow your SMS audience through poll participation.

Scheduling the Poll

The Schedule section controls when the poll is active.

Start Time

Select when the poll should begin accepting votes.

Options include:

• Immediately

• At a specified date and time

Stop Time

Select when the poll should stop accepting votes. Messages received after the stop time will trigger the out-of-schedule response.

Message Responses

The Message Summary panel shows the messages participants will receive during and outside the poll schedule.

Responses include:

• Confirmation responses sent when a valid vote is received during the voting period

• Out-of-schedule responses sent when a message is received after the poll has closed

These responses help inform participants whether their vote has been successfully recorded.

How SMS Poll Voting Works

Once the poll is active:

1. Participants send a voting code to the designated short code.

2. PostUp records the vote based on the code received.

3. A confirmation message is sent back to the participant.

Votes received outside of the scheduled voting window will trigger the configured out-of-schedule response.